


Just What the Doctor Ordered

by wonderwheelzier



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Caretaking, Drugs, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Wisdom Teeth, just painkillers, only sort of tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-20 15:25:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18995359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonderwheelzier/pseuds/wonderwheelzier
Summary: short fluffy drabble about el looking after a loopy mike after he gets his wisdom teeth removed





	Just What the Doctor Ordered

**Author's Note:**

> i only tagged for drugs bc mike is on painkillers here that make him loopy/act silly, there are no hard drugs or anything!!

It was hard for El to keep her eyes on the road when Mike was curled up in the passenger seat, staring at her all loopy and starry-eyed. She giggled to herself as she watched from the corner of her eye as he switched between staring at her and poking the gauze in his mouth through his cheek. She was concentrating on making a left turn as he told her, “You’re so pretty,” the gauze muffling his words. Still, the message was clear, and even though she’d heard him say it countless times before, it still made her blush.

“You’re the most beautiful person in the whole world,” she told him through a dreamy, amused sigh. Once she was on a straightaway, she reached over and stroked his hair a bit. She let out a laugh as he scooted over the center console and rested his head on her shoulder.

“Wanna cuddle.”

“We can cuddle so long as you keep your seatbelt on and let me drive,” she conceded with a small giggle. She was thankful when they stopped at a red light, as it gave her the chance to lean over and press a kiss to the top of his head. “I love you, you little goof.”

“I love you so much. I can’t smile right now, but if I could I would be smiling because I love you so much.”

“You’re cute,” El murmured, her heart warm.

“You take such good care of me,” he continued, his voice sounding faraway. “I can’t wait to marry you, gonna take such good care of you every day.”

“We’ve still got a few more years before that,” El grinned, “but I’m gonna hold you to that.”

“Why can’t we get married now?”

“Because we’re twenty-year-old unpaid interns living with our parents for the summer.” El’s voice was light and joking, but her heart did get heavy when he asked questions like that. There were times when she just wanted to jump into the future where they had stable jobs and an apartment and a cat, where they each had rings on their fingers, rings to match one another. But she would wait as long as she needed to for that future, and she felt better about the wait knowing Mike felt the same.

Mike nodded off for the rest of the ride, and she gently woke him up with kisses to his hair and forehead. “Mike,” she whispered, “we’re home.” She got out of the car as he groggily came to and walked around to the passenger side door to help him out of the car. She walked him around to the basement door and let them both in, helping him onto the couch. He lay down with his head in El’s lap and just stared up at her as she stroked her fingers through his hair. “Hi,” she giggled. She sighed contentedly as he began stroking her arm absently, his eyes hooded and love-struck. She admired his eyes, how deep they were, and she admired how soft his hair was. She admired the freckles that dotted his nose and cheeks and crept up around his eyes. She giggled at his chipmunk cheeks and ran her thumbs over them as gently as she could. Then, suddenly, Mike burst into tears. “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” she asked, sitting Mike up and trying to find what was upsetting him.

“I can’t kiss you!” he sobbed. “I want to kiss you!”

“Oh, love,” El sighed in relief, giving a small giggle as she pulled Mike into her arms. “You’ll be able to kiss me really soon, I promise.” For now, she decided to kiss his hair and cheeks and nose all over, as many times as she could. She loved the way he leaned into it, the way he held her and let her hold him. His sobs soon subsided as she hummed to him, kissed him, played with his hair. “Let’s put a movie on, okay? And then later I’ll make you some mac n cheese, and we can having chocolate ice cream for dessert. Does that sound good?” Mike nodded and let El lay him back down before she started a movie on the TV. He was asleep fifteen minutes in, and she spent most of the movie looking at him rather than the screen.

Karen came down later in the evening to check in on him, but seeing that he was still asleep she quietly slipped upstairs and offered to make dinner. Quietly thanking her, El continued stroking Mike’s hair. He looked so precious with his puffy cheeks and long eyelashes.

She helped him refresh the gauze in his mouth, held his hand as they ate the mac n cheese with Karen (Mike happily excluded from the vegetables), and returned to the basement to share a pint of ice cream between the two of them. As she did all of these things, as she stroked Mike’s hair back from his forehead and kissed him there, she couldn’t help but think about how lucky she was. Mike loved taking care of her, and while she appreciated and enjoyed that a lot, she loved when she got the chance to return the favor and coddle him. She loved doting on him, and she was very much looking forward to that future together where they could care for each other every day of their lives.


End file.
